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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Forgot to post this when I read about it last. Every year Fader does an Icon issue where they spotlight one artist's contribution to the culture and bring you all sorts of an interesting and comprehensive study. They promise some fly shit. Andrew Noz has some choice words of Biggie’s musical legacy you can read here but I can't wait to support this with a physical copy when it hits newsstands on May 3rd. If just for the rare photos alone, the cover is remarkable.

Read some more information on what to expects from 2011's Icon Issue here.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Shout to the new team! What's funny is a similar thing to what Jeff talks about happened to me when I walked into Armani Exchange in my first year of high-school wearing a shirt I just made. A sales associate stopped me and I ended up selling him 2 tees the same day, realizing I could make some money off my own designs. Inspiration.

I don't know, in my [humble] opinion, your watch shouldn't be made by the same brand as your jacket. Get a watch made by a company that makes watches. I just did. Huge thank you to Lana for coming through with the coolest of birthday gifts. Babygirl!

This is pretty amazing. Obviously not a business model that can work for everyone but for the right few I think it has potential to really change things. The Soul Kitchen, enjoys it's grand opening this Spring.

I was just talking about how crazy the radio is for making this song grow on me. It really did, slowly but surely. Something about it. Good to see this nigga dance around on Letterman and do his thing.

Wild and sad in my opinion. Almost 2 years before he was gunned down, the never-before-released interview with Pac comes from the time he spent in prison at Clinton Correctional Facility in 1995. The interview is featured on a DVD entitled Tupac Uncensored and Uncut: The Lost Prison Tapes, which was released back in January on Amazon. All 44 minutes of the film have been made available on YouTube and we just had to share. I only caught the first video so far, still gotta get into the rest. What an enigma this guy was. See part 2 here and 3 here. Props to Hypebeast for the heads up.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

I guess I should post this. Kind of weak in my opinion. I've already witnessed it's power to make girls dance though so maybe B is on to something, what the hell do I know. Song's produced by Diplo of course.

These are mothafuckin' clean, holy shit. My favorite denim kicks were probably the pair of Vans I ran into the ground a couple years ago. Then there were these Polo joints that had some potential to cop but I reneged on 'em last minute. These might do the trick. The dark wash, the yellow trim, the flattened details and gum outsole mixed with a brandished tongue and heel tabs absolutely kill it. Great job.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Cool pair of kicks. I know a couple dedicated readers who are gonna like them even more than me, haha. They come with all sorts of goodies like 4 sets of laces, a registration card, customized footbeds, a custom t-shirt, all in a special carrying case. Plus they're sick quality.

Jeff has a quick story on his blog about how he got them from the talents of SneakersBR, Brazil’s premier sneaker culture website.

Maybe a day too late but this is cool, haha. Song's alright, their relationship is what's awesome. You can also go here and watch the live performance they did in Amsterdam. Snoop's Doggumentary album is in stores now.

Don't know why I love these flight jackets so much but I do. Something so fresh about them. Re-releasing this classic each season, the flying jacket comes in a heavy nylon twill shell accompanied by an Air Force Blue colorway with aluminum details and Crown zips. Priced at $4,230 HKD (approximately $540 USD). Spring shit.

This makes me so sad. Gerard was the coolest, most humble, talented, sweet, and just all around good dude. I'm sick right now. I thought he was doing better, that he was beating this thing. Life is so fragile, man, fuck. Huge shout to his brothers/band members, his family, his friends and fans all over the world.

We are very sad to announce the death of our beloved friend and bandmate, Gerard Smith, following a courageous fight against lung cancer. Gerard passed away the morning of April 20th, 2011. We will miss him terribly.

The following shows will be cancelled:

April 20 St. Andrew Halls, Detroit MI
April 22 Metro, Chicago IL
April 23 First Ave, Minneapolis MN
April 24 First Ave, Minneapolis MN
April 26 Ogden, Denver CO
There will be more information as it becomes available.

This is awesome. I don't think there's one regular person in the whole clip, haha. No fair. Starring Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, Elijah Wood, Will Ferrell and many, many more. Including the original members in a mothafuckin' delorean. I repeat, no fair.

Young, gorgeous and half-naked, in a series by Nicolas Padron where he borrows Fenton Moon’s Nadya for Nadya 1970. Hair and makeup provided by Shintaro and Joanna Lily Wong. Had to post, them titties have character.

I talked about it earlier rather perfectly I gotta admit, but I'll say it again. This is the type of album cover you could put on a shelf at Best Buy or somewhere and people who haven't heard one record off it will buy it just because. It's that good. But good like smart. Yeah. The video though? Boring as fuck. Besides some interesting camera movement and good outfits on Ross, it's garbage. Carter IV's new release date is May something.

Fuuuucck, haha. As much as I love these I really don't think I can do white. Mayyyyybe, I just have a problem with rocking high-tops with shorts, I dunno. They're hard for sure though. One of the most anticipated sneakers from Nike's White Pack, the popular foamposite kick gets the summer treatment in all white everything save for an icey blue sole.

Haven't heard any of the new music except for the super average "Dog Shit" record with Nas. Still, P is a legend in the game and we don't wish him anything but success. I like the fact he got with the visionaries over at Complex to make this EP happen so soon after being released from prison. Smart in this day and age. The full interview is dope, too. Good read and good to see where the nigga's head is at after all these years. Sounds like he's smartened up some. The only thing that'll ensure Mobb another 20 years making money in this industry is if the music is incredible. Sounds like these guys know that.

Monday, April 18, 2011

If there was any solidification that needed to happen (there wasn't) to make you believe this guy was the best, last night at Coachella was it. I've never seen a better performance from Kanye. Sometimes the theatrics are overdone and come off forced. Sometimes the outfits are way too Lady Gaga for a rap nigga to still look cool. Sometimes the shades are too weird, the guestlist too long, the setlist too short. Sometimes wasn't this time. I swear the gorgeous silk shirt by Céline was something Big would have worn. I couldn't stop gushing about it. The shit swayed in the night with every movement. There were no features save for Pusha T on Runaway. I swear if that dude doesn't use these golden opportunities to become the next big star I'm gonna be pissed the fuck off. Jeff Basker and the incredibly talented, Mike Dean handled all the extra instrumentation on the records and it truly did breathe new life into already excellent songs we've come to love. Just wow. I don't know what else to say. If you thought the performance seemed inspired by something greater than the 60,000+ screaming fans in front of him, you were right. Kanye dedicated his performance to his late mother, saying all he's wanted to do these last 3 years was sing those songs about her and close out Coachella. Well, he got his wish in a major way last night.

*Sidenote: Twitter is so dope when kids on your timeline all over the world are watching the same thing and talking about it. Shout to everybody. Meet me in Cali next year, baby.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Got into this thanks to Missinfo.com, but where most of the kids probably just checked it out for the Kanye stuff, there's actually a lot more to the talk if you have the time to watch. If you're making music, mixing it, mastering, whether prog rock, hip-hop, pop stuff there is extremely well articulated points and interest throughout this thing. Did my little rewinding back and forth trying to really catch stuff and it proved to be a great source of information if you're in the business of making awesome music. The renting out the whole floor of the hotel to make a record with Kanye shit is bananas. They also rented out the floor above and below to be able to make some noise. So dope.

In the 14th episode of Pensado's Place, Kanye West's engineer Mike Dean joins Dave and Herb to talk about his career, pioneering the "Dirty South" sound, and working with Kanye west on all of his albums! Dave and Mike then take viewer questions from the chatroom and facebook in "The Corner Office", followed by this week's "Batter's Box", where Mike answers Dave's rapid-fire questions regarding the gear he uses. This week's "Into The Lair" is at the end of the show, and is a continuation from last week's where Dave gives four distinct examples of how to clear out the middle and get wider mixes!

My man Klep gave me an idea for a themed post. Maybe we'll get him to pick a girl a week worthy of being labeled "Wifey" or something, but just based on looks. I guess we could eventually then span to boring stuff like personality or whatever somewhere down the road. "Ashley" up top has some nice things happening for her.

Rae and newly freed Prodigy cool out in the back of the 'Bach while Al chops the beat up. T.Shirt's Ode To Raekwon coming soon. Props to L-R-G for giving niggas a little bit of a budget nowadays to shoot stuff.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

The news is a few days old but err, I care, and I thought you might, too. After seeing the overall terrible "Girlfriend Experience" or whatever it was called, then last season's Entourage, along with everything else she's doing, it shouldn't cum as much of a surprise to you, Ms. Grey has called it quits. From taking real money shots, to shots at real money. Good for her. In her own words:

Something for the Fans: I’ve always tried to be as open and honest with my fans (and onlookers) as much as possible. With the way social media has progressed, a lot of personalization has been lost. The purpose of this is to address the elephant in the room, and to thank all of you.
It’s become quite evident that my time as an adult film performer has expired. Don’t worry, I haven’t found Jesus. One thing is for certain, I’m proud to say I have no regrets, I genuinely feel I accomplished everything I could as a performer. I was able to work with the industry’s most professional performers and companies, and I’ll always cherish the friends and relationships I was able to build. It was simply the perfect time for me to move on… while I was on top (pun indeed, intended). Life sometimes takes us in a direction we never could have imagined.
Thanks to my friend Brandon Stosuy, last week at Housing Works in NYC I had a very successful launch for my first book, NEÜ SEX. We had a huge turnout of people for our discussion and signing, all while supporting a cause! Vice and I donated several copies of the book to Housing Works, so everyone who bought a book (or a drink) in turn helped fight HIV/AIDS and homelessness. Some very familiar faces showed up that night, and I’m happy I got to share my excitement with all of them!
Four years in the making, NEÜ SEX includes my visual mosaic through photography, my sexual philosophy, and observations. I’d just like to say thank you to every individual who has supported me from day one, you are truly my shining stars. If you had not listened, if you weren’t interested, this book would not exist. I’ll forever be grateful, and humbled by your outpouring of support. This book is dedicated to you.
Lotta Continua
SG

Big sounding record. Santi plays with a serious bounce on this shit. Production is a collaborative effort between Q-Tip, Switch and Santigold herself, alongside guitar player Nick Zinner. Hipster Summer party music at it's finest.

This kid stays bugging, haha. This is the mini documentary that came as a bonus gift with the purchase of Cudi’s last opus, Man On The Moon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager. Totally a glimpse into the mind type thing. Shot by Jason Goldwatch I believe.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

HARD. I believe Wiz just wore these same ones in blood red (above) on the Letterman show. Converse introduces the Star Player 75 Hi Deluxe in a dusty, all light grey everything. Rich nubuck upper with tonal stitching, grey leather trim and debossed branding on the tongue and sides. The inside of the shoe is lined with perforated calfskin while the tongue and ankle collar feature a subtle quilted detailing. Option of rawhide leather or waxed cotton laces. $110 and available at select retailers beginning Friday, April 15th Shout to Ronnie Fieg.

Pictured from left to right: Former MTV Journalist Jayson Rodriguez & Toshitaka Kondo
Great talk with one of the main ill dudes over at Complex magazine. No matter what you wanna do inside of a forward-thinking media company making moves, it's important you listen to some of the stuff Tosh says. Speaking on his journey into hip-hop journalism, growing up in the culture of hip-hop, the current state of the music, "internet rappers", getting into the writing game, how things of changed over the years etc, the man is a wealth of cool knowledge. Props to my guys over at GoodfellaMedia.com on their new "Spotlight" feature highlighting some of the important behind-the-scenes players. Great content. Watch part one of Tosha's interview here, and part two here.

I don't know why I keep posting these damn things! Haha, like I always say, I wouldn't wear them myself. I respect their design though, and I feel with the right kind of something you can pull it off. This time around the designer gave the sneaker a mixed leather/denim treatment and added his by now signature spikes to almost the entire upper.

So proud of these guys. I know them from a café in Brooklyn we all worked at some years ago. Good to see Gerard all over this awesome vision. The overall film is helmed by band frontman Tunde Adebimpe with each of the 10-song tracklist getting videos by different filmmakers. There's beautiful and very forward-thinking visuals throughout. I know there's no point in comparing the two but I can't help thinking of Kanye's album accompanying "Runaway" film. Nice to see maybe this becoming a trend. The new album Nine Types of Light dropped today, and you can listen to it in full here. Support the music from great artists.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Fun stuff. I love these two's relationship. Down below is Gwyneth interviewing Hov for her site, Goop.com. Go here for Hov's interview with Gwyneth, courtesy of LifeandTimes.com

Mr. Carter (a.k.a. Jay-Z), has launched a super cool website canvassing everything that's piquing his interest in the worlds of art, music, technology, design, sports, leisure, and style. I caught up with Jay and asked him about the impetus for starting it, including, among other things, what it's like to be the coolest man on Earth.

Q: Life + Times is incredible—aesthetically, culturally … When did you get the idea to start it and how long have you been working on it?
A: I started working on it in its various incarnations over a year ago. I've thought about it forever. You know how it works, seeing other sites and being either inspired or saying, "That's shit. I would do it like ..."Q: I love seeing everything through your filter, how do you decide what you are going to cover? How personal is this?
A: Well there is a basic metric for what we cover but, more importantly, I believe it's how we cover it. The DNA is to basically let the subject speak for itself. We don't want to tell you what to think. As far as how personal? I would say it has to pique my interest.Q: As someone who has walked through museums with you, eaten with you, heard music with you, I know firsthand how creativity in all areas lifts your consciousness. Do you feel that as a cultural figure of importance it is part of your responsibility to share what inspires you?
A: I think it's every human's job to inspire others, to feed one another's senses. Inspiration begets inspiration times infinity. Imagine if the person that was inspired to create the phonograph didn't share it with the world.Q: In one word answers, name someone or something in food, music, art and design, style, and sports that inspires you today and your favorite spot to be leisurely.
A:
Food: Batali (he's like a rock star)
Music: MARLEY (the perfect blend of love and gangster)
Art: BASQUIAT (where music and art met and fell in love)
Style: MARC JACOBS (he takes the Bronx experience like 40 below boots and bubble gooses and puts it on the runway)
*Disclaimer: I know it's one goose 2 geese..
Sports: Muhammad ALI (enough said)
And my favorite spot to be leisurely is wherever family, friends, good food and wine are.Q: You are the coolest man on Earth, how the f did you get like that?
A: I'm around great women, starting with my mom. Women keep men cool. The hotter the chick the cooler the guy ... that sounds like a really bad rap line!

Well done. Nick Schonberger and Kellen Dengler for Highsnobiety.com get both Eve and Swizzy to talk "classic" and what the word means to them. Getting a glimpse of that energy the nigga gives off is cool. Being around so long I'm glad to see him involved with some well made shit, too. I think that's something we take for granted a lot of the time. It's crazy but you can tell how focused an artist is just by how well their vocals are mixed or how crispy that vid looking. I'm saying.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

My guys sent out an exclusive offer at the end of the week for a special presale of their new collectible. Living in NYC and keeping your eyes on the street, you might have seen the real life murals on sides of trucks parked and moving everywhere, throughout every borough. It's a nice feeling to know my people have the city on lock like that, haha. Anyway, now you can own a piece of it all. For a limted time, $50 buys you not one, but two trucks, one 8.5 inch (length) and a smaller one at 3.5 inch with the duo's signature handstyle and personalized touch, limited box and all. Only 50 have been made and they're said to be selling out fast so get yours today. Go here.

Love them. Kinda cool to see such straight-edge funny guys doing the New Era ads haha. To me, urban kids took this brand over and made it their own, to the point I don't even associate the hats with anyone else. Maybe that's just cause I'm from New York. Anyway, I love the cross marketing going on nowadays. This is a perfect example.

This nigga looks and talks like he's a mothafucking pleasure to work with. A rapper's dream engineer. Always full of cool knowledge, on a London street he breaks down what makes Jay Electronica so special, along with the 4-5 albums worth of unreleased Jay-Z music he has in the stash. Crazy shit.

I'm into these a lot. I still haven't seen a good pair of summer kicks for myself but I can picture these on Shorty with the right shorts on, tights or whatever. I dunno, something about little white kicks on a man I'm not too fond of haha. These are premium and ill, soft leather upper and thick Chenille Swoosh. They also come in black which are much better in my opinion.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Hov puts a real ass verse on a slow and penetrating number by one of the greatest. The song will find it's home on Sade's forthcoming greatest hits compilation, The Ultimate Collection, dropping May 3rd. Drake’s man Noah “40″ Shebib produced this shit in his typical signature fashion but it's nice to the young guy in the industry get such an honor.

I like the way this looks. Makes the song a little better. There was a rumor going around that Wiz sold a ridiculously little number of albums in his first week on the charts. In all truth, the young taylor did almost 200k and came in 2nd on the Billboard 100. 1st on the Hip-Hop charts. Looking good out there, kid!

For the most part I enjoy a classic look above anything else. Maybe it's just me getting older, but I remember being a kid and putting truly ridiculous outfits together to try and stand out. When I look at the piece above I see classic elements but I think the shirt itself rides a very thin line. It'd be easy to do it all wrong. Still, the wash of denim it is, the texture, it all gives off a serious quality about it and I think I'd be able to pull it off under the right circumstances, haha. I'm thinking open maybe, with olive green cargo pants, v-neck underneath. I don't know, interesting piece.